The Protective Security Task Force consisted of a couple dozen plainclothes cops who hung around tall buildings looking for the next Faisal Shahzad. Given that the LAPD is cutting back on patrol overtime across the city, this was judged not to be the best use of the officers' time.

Not to fear, though, the department still has 270 people assigned to its Counter Terrorism and Criminal Intelligence Bureau. Their primary focus is on gathering intelligence. The job of spotting suspicious SUVs will be left up to street vendors, who handled the task ably in Times Square.